Of Gravity and Hair Ties
by ncfan
Summary: A game of tag ends in an awkward moment.


**Characters:** Byakuya, Yoruichi**  
Pairings:** Slight Byakuya x Yoruichi, though that's more Byakuya being a slightly hormonal and easily embarrassed teenager.**  
Warnings/Spoilers: **Spoilers for Turn Back the Pendulum Arc.**  
Timeline: **During Turn Back the Pendulum Arc.**  
Author's Note: **I had an absolutely glorious mental image of a seventeen-year-old Byakuya chasing Yoruichi all over Rukongai and decided to put it into words.**  
Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach.

* * *

The sky was ruddy with sunset's glow. Soon, it would be hitting the gloaming period, and already there was the tinge of deep celestial blue above the rust red. In the deep summer heat, cicadas hit a long, hard note, holding it there and making the night seem even more sultry and humid than before.

Byakuya smirked and snickered as he finally caught sight of her on the other side of the slanted, terracotta roof of the building in Rukongai.

Yoruichi sat on the very edge of the building's roof, her long legs dangling off of the side. Her billowing white captain's haori fluttered behind her, her hands braced on the gutters of the roof. Byakuya couldn't see her facial expression from that distance in the fading light, but she was relaxed, not on her guard, and utterly oblivious to his presence.

As Byakuya crept towards her, he had to brush a long lock of hair out of his face; ever since Yoruichi had stolen his hair tie earlier that afternoon he had been swiping hair out of his face in order to see properly. _I'm gonna make that demon cat give me back my hair tie._

He got closer and closer, and still Yoruichi didn't notice Byakuya was there, perfectly unconscious of how close Byakuya was to her. Byakuya supposed his stealth must have improved greatly for Yoruichi not to notice. It never occurred to him that there may have been another reason, or that it might not be a good idea to pounce on her where she was sitting.

A tense moment passed, in which Byakuya's heart pounded so hard against his ribs that he thought that either Yoruichi would hear him or his ribs would crack from the strain.

Then, he struck.

Byakuya tackled Yoruichi at the waist from behind, barreling into his smaller—though much older—companion.

"Got you!" he crowed triumphantly.

Of course, Byakuya hadn't considered what would happen when he tackled a woman sitting on the edge of a roof.

"You little dope!" Yoruichi screamed at him as they went toppling off of the roof towards the alley below. They both let out short screams as they went flying through the air.

Byakuya was stunned for a moment by the fall and the landing. Then, he attempted to gather his bearings.

He relaxed…

_Well, at least I landed on something soft._

…until he realized that that "something" was moving.

"GET OFF ME!" Yoruichi shrieked. Out of nowhere, an open hand came and hit Byakuya upside the nose.

Byakuya yelped in pain as he scrambled away, clutching his bleeding nose; Yoruichi had struck him hard enough to break a vein under the skin in his nose.

"I don't even wanna know why your hands were where they were!" she shouted at him, eyes ablaze with fury.

"Sorry!" the teenager squeaked, face going bright red.

"And haven't you ever heard of gravity? What did you _think_ would happen when you tried to get me, sitting where I was?"

"Sorry!" Byakuya's voice was even higher than before.

Yoruichi rolled her eyes and flapped her hands towards him. "Whatever."

Byakuya attempted to salvage the tattered remains of his dignity, standing straighter and wiping the blood away from his nose. "Yoruichi," he called, trying very hard to make his voice even. "I want my hair tie back."

"What, this thing?" Yoruichi drew the bright red ribbon from a pocket and dangled it in the air, smiling teasingly. "Take it." She tossed it to Byakuya.

He glared at her as he swept his hair back and jerked the ribbon into a knot.

Yoruichi grinned right back. "It's probably just as well you're doing that. With your hair down, if you weren't flat as a pancake, it would be really easy to mistake you for a pretty girl, little Byakuya." Byakuya felt color seeping into his cheeks again. "In fact, even with you being flat as a pancake, I think we'd _still_ have someone mistaking you for a pretty girl, and than we'd really have problems."

"Shut up!" Now it was Byakuya's pride that was wounded, not just his dignity.

This evoked an easy laugh from Yoruichi, who threw an arm around Byakuya's shoulders as they started to walk back. "Come on. Your grandfather'll kill me if I don't have you back in a couple of hours."

Byakuya smirked. "That would solve so many of my problems."

"Come on!" Yoruichi's grin turned noticeably suggestive. "You know you love me!"

"Yes, the way I love a tapeworm."

The sky was streaked with blue among the clay red canopy. Byakuya was staring upwards as Yoruichi's voice shot at him yet again. "You wanna do this again tomorrow?"

"Sure," Byakuya answered absently. He broke into an evil grin. "And next time, I'll definitely show you that my shunpou is superior to yours."

Another high, roaring laugh rose above the buildings of Rukongai. "In your dreams! And only in your dreams."

"You're just saying that because you know I'll beat you."

She rolled her eyes. "Spoken like a teenager." A thrum of amusement came from Yoruichi, as she got a final shot in. "Oh, and Byakuya? Why _were_ your hands there, anyway?"

Byakuya hated that Yoruichi liked making him blush so much, as his face topped all the previous blushes in sheer redness.


End file.
